Pitted XBR fork Tubes

[crackedhead]

Hi - I'm new to the forum and would like some advice on refurbishing fork stanchions for the XBR. I've had a quote of £110 to get them hard chromed (pittedforks.co.uk), or £150 for new tubes. I'm tempted to just get my own repaired ... unless any of you have any advice recommendations.

Also, my XBR is the old 'G' model with the two piece exhaust and one of the down pipes is past its best. I notice that Dave Silver spares has a single piece exhaust for the later H & SJ models. Has anyone tried these newer exhausts on the old XBR500g model?

Thanks.

[Steve Lake]

dunno anything about the exhausts
but i did have my tubes ground and chromed.....cost £120 plus outbound carriage

worth it though.....as good as new

[crackedhead]

Thanks SteveL,

I'll definately go with 'pittedforks'. To hard chrome the fork tubes, as well as an uplift / delivery service, is £120. They have also offered a strip down / rebuild with new seals and oil for £220. The firm get a very good write up in classic bikes.

Tony

[Steve Lake]

well, the last bit sounds a tad pricey....a full set of seals will cost about £20....and the oil about a tenner.....and an hours work on the shed......as long as you have a workshop manual

[guest27]

As standard most forks have 'decroative' chrome.  People such as pittedforks and some engineering firms will hard chrome - does not look as good, and can grind back to perfect size.  Looks duller than shiny chrome but ohhh so much better at doing the job.

So I am told having never done any myself, always used laminating resin and fork gaiters

R

[Steve Lake]

well, that answers the question i've always been meaning to ask.....why are my rebuilt forks a but on the dull side...cheers

[crackedhead]

Thanks Rog & SteveL.

Steve, can you tell me who rebuilt / rechromed your forks?

[Steve Lake]

hell, good question.....got their name out of 'classic bike'.....#1 Son had his morini forks done there....I'll check and get back to you

[Steve Lake]

He's a clevver bu55er that Bill......thats the people right enuf

[Steve H]

Apologies to all I tried 'splitting' this topic to put a copy in the Recommended Services, it seems to have moved it as apposed to creating a copy. Bills response can be found here
http://www.thumperclub.com/smf/index.php?topic=2415.0

[guest27]

Bloody tecchies...

R

 

[guest7]

My latest bike (a twin so we won't name it) had gaiters fitted and, being a cynic, I thought "aha, trying to cover up the oil leaks eh?"

Then I saw the Scottoiler the same owner had fitted and thought "aha, perhaps he was a sensible chap and the gaiters are there to stop the forks from pitting".

I always fit gaiters to my bike and I'd say I'd fall into the latter category... a sensible chap. But I never check under them so for all I know they are in fact covering up a mess of pits and fork oil, which would make me... an idiot 

Has anyone actually had a good result from the old araldite and emery paper approach to fork refurbishment?

GC

[peterj]

No luck with araldite - although I must admit I never tried the cleaning with a blowtorch prep. I decided that the real problem was the sharp edges of the pit ripping the seals. I took a sharp drill bit and by hand put a tiny countersink around each pit, and a few years later I'm getting about 5,000 miles between seal changes. Really should fix it properly.

[crackedhead]

thanks for all the replies. So I'm going to strip down the forks and will send off the tubes to get hard chromed. While I've got the forks in bit, obviously I'll replace the oil and seals but should I also be doing anything else ..like the bushes? By the way, the springs were replaced a couple of years ago, so I don't forsee any problems there.

Also - what's the opinion on rear shockers? I've seen new ones advertised on ebay for £50 but I they seem too cheap. Are hagon's the ones the go for, or are they similarly priced alternatives?

Cheers,
Tony

[themoudie]

Aye Tony,

Flush out the sliders with kerosene/paraffin and then with brake cleaner, the amount of abrasive crud that will come away having settled in the bottom of the casting will be an eye opener. 

Likewise all the internal bits and also the stanchions when they come back from HCP. Bits of grinding belt/grit from the finishing process will do your rebuilt forks no good at all!!!!

Check bushes once you have cleaned stanchions.

Hope you acheive that supple compliant feel!

As for rear shocks, Koni or Oz Inok's from Norman Hyde, Ohlins or for day to day use Hagons or NJB's. For the latter see recommended suppliers 'Forum'.

Regards, Bill.